AstroGS

With average moon luminosity of 80%-90% and with the south part of the sky almost fully covered, I had to choose a target as opposite as possible and decided to go for M81 & M82 on LRGB + Ha. This was the 1st proper time that I tried to shoot a galaxy via LRGB and I thought why not, let's add Ha as, it is quite trendy nowadays. How difficult would it be? Well, it was pretty challenging and I spend a good half a day just trying to stretch the images - 5 in total! And then it was the addition of the Ha; well that was a challenge on its own.

But, on the other hand I was happy to see some IFN and this was a first for me.

RGB: 55 x 120 sec each

Lum: 105 x 300sec

Ha: 79 x 300 sec

Processed with PI and Photoshop (!).

It feels over-stretched but, happy for now - any feedback will be appreciated 🙂

32 minutes ago, Adam J said:

I don't think it's the scope. The filter is suspect in my view and if a new filter doesn't solve it maybe the coating on the sensor cover glass is defective. Definitely contact your supplier. 

It's actually potentially worse than what I have seen from the ASI1600mm pro on that target. On the 1600 it would be confined to only the two brightest stars and no others in that field of view. 

@Adam J if it was the sensor cover glass, wouldnt there be an issue with all filters - including the SII and OIII?

10 hours ago, Adam J said:

Interesting that you are getting microlensing from a ASI2600mm?? Anyone else ever had this? Are you sure your filter is the correct way around?

Adam

@Adam J @Stuart1971 I thought so too. We changed the orientation of the filter to eliminate this possibility and the results were more or less the same. Another thought was that Pertzval design OTAs might be more susceptible to such effects - especially on OIII @ 2.8nm. But, since the SII & Ha Antlia filters are excellent, I consider the OIII to be defective and will be returned.

For my first "proper" image since I setup the telescope in Spain, I chose the Jellyfish Nebula using my Redcat61, 2600MM camera, and Antlia 2.8nm LRGBSHO filters mounted on an AM5. 

Over 24 hours of data were collected, with the focus on revealing the nebula's full colours in SHO. However, a setback occurred as nearly 7 hours of OIII-filtered data proved unusable due to unexpected halos and star bloating. Despite efforts during the image processing phase, the OIII data remained unusable.

Undeterred, I decided to salvage the project by combining the excellent Ha and SII data with RGB stars, using Pixinsight and the Foraxx script, resulting in an image that I am pleased with. Although the outcome diverges from a faithful representation, the artistic approach yielded a dramatic and interesting scene, in my opinion.

Ha: 68 x 600 sec

SII: 38 x 600 sec

RGB: 40 x 120 sec each

Calibration files: Flats, Darks and Bias (50 each)

Very impressed - thank you.

I will most certainly do so.

@ollypenrice this is how it looks after (my personal best) stretching. I tried through the available Pixinsight tools (that I know of) to remove the halos but, since they are integrated in the nebulosity, I am finding it difficult to remove without leaving a residual shadow.

51 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Are you absolutely sure the OIII can't be used? I'm a bit of a hard-core 'fix it and use it' merchant! Could you not stretch it, de-star it and use Content Aware Fill on the haloes? I don't think there would be any need to put the stars back since you could use the OIII as a colour layer while leaving the stars as they are.

It is a lovely image and, as you say, dramatic because the colour change brings the Jellyfish forward, visually. It's just a shame to lose the outer OIII shell.

Olly

Thanks Olly - Content Aware Fill is a feature of PS if I'm not mistaken and unfortunately I do not use PS. Probably I will have to put some serious thought on start learning how to use PS.

I will be sharing though the star aligned & cropped, xisf OIII stacked image, if anyone wants to play around 🙂

OIII.xisf

1 minute ago, assouptro said:

I saw your post regarding your surgery 

It was a shock to hear how poorly you have been and you have been in my thoughts 

It has also made me seriously consider the prospect of starting statins as I too have high cholesterol 

I am glad you are on the mend! ❤️‍🩹 

Apologies @AstroGSfor the hijack of your post 😊

Bryan 

It is not a highjack - it is a nice warming conversation of two friends sharing the same love for the cosmos as, it would have happen if we were all together at a star party.

My best wishes to Dave.

Followed Stuart's suggestion and I might like the new version better as it reveals more detail but, the 1st one is more "dramatic" I would dare to say - thank you for the suggestion @Stuart1971

Thoughts?

1 minute ago, Skipper Billy said:

Yep - I am not a happy bunny at the moment!

Anyway - I won't hijack your thread - cracking image by the way - just shows that there is no substitute for plenty of exposure time !

Thank you - I will try to push a bit more the stretch to see if I can get a bit more of the dust.

1 hour ago, Skipper Billy said:

I wish I hadn't read that! I am having issues with my Baader Blue & Oiii filters and was considering a set of Antlia 2" filters as a fix!

Well I cannot fault the Antlia filters  both the Ha and SII are absolutely fantastic as well as the LRGB - it seems that only the OIII had an issue. Compared to my previous 7nm these are really good..

In case it helps - I am attaching 1 from each for your review 🙂

2024-02-01_23-34-42_Ha_-10.10_600.00s_0010.fits 2024-02-05_00-36-10_OIII_-10.00_600.00s_0007.fits 2024-02-03_23-01-58_SII_-10.00_600.00s_0017.fits

Thank you. When I get back home I will have a look. Great feedback

For my first "proper" image since I setup the telescope in Spain @PixelSkiesAstro I chose the Jellyfish Nebula using my Redcat61, 2600MM camera, and Antlia 2.8nm LRGBSHO filters mounted on an AM5.

Over 24 hours of data were collected, with the focus on revealing the nebula's full colours in SHO. However, a setback occurred as nearly 7 hours of OIII-filtered data proved unusable due to unexpected halos and star bloating. Despite efforts during the image processing phase, the OIII data remained unusable. FLO and Antlia are investigating the issue for me.

Undeterred, I decided to salvage the project by combining the excellent Ha and SII data with RGB stars, using the Foraxx script, resulting in an image that I am pleased with. Although the outcome diverges from a faithful representation, the artistic approach yielded a dramatic and interesting scene, in my opinion. I welcome any feedback or insights and hope you find joy in the unique rendition of this beautiful nebula. When I sort out the OIII filter issue, I will add the OIII and probably more Ha and SII too.

Ha: 68 x 600 sec

SII: 38 x 600 sec

RGB: 40 x 120 sec each

Calibration files: Flats, Darks and Bias (50 each)

Thank you @Ouroboros - yes indeed. I used the GHS. I think I did 3 or 4 samples of it before I was almost happy!  Although I am into astrophotography for the lat 3-4 years now, I just start to understand the importance of stretching and how to do it. I am sure at the hands of someone that is more experienced than me, can get more detail by performing a better stretch.

I was playing around with the Ha filter, while testing NINA, the focuser and the tracking and managed to acquire approx. 23 frames of 300 sec. Trying to learn how to improve my stretching techniques in PI. in this image, I performed the stretch in small intervals while trying to keep  the faint Ha nebulosity visible.

28 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

The sweet spot lies between your two renditions. Learning to manage the stretch is really the essence of post processing. Work only in small iterations...

Olly

So, one area to improve is the stretch and that way I can control better contrast and the background?

One more - played with the curves and darken the background, although I said I wouldn't.

Continuing my tests of the rig at @PixelSkiesAstro, here is a quick iteration of the Hosehead Nebula.

It is not the first time that I am imaging this target but, it is definitely the first time that I can see this level of detail. I am sharing the final (quick processed image) + the starless one, which I feel is breathtaking. I am missing more Ha from the image but, it is still nice.

Ha: 13 x 300sec

SII: 9 x 300sec

OIII: 17 x 300sec

+ calibration frames: flats, darks and bias

RedCat61 on a ZWO AM5

2600MM with Antlia filters

Integrated and processed with PI + XT suite + Foraxx + GraXpert. I did not try to darken the background as, I wanted to showcase the beauty of the dust. If you can advice on how to reduce the brightness while maintaining the dust detail, I’m very interested to know how 😀

30 minutes ago, mareman48 said:

Nice pic, would be interesting to learn about your work Flow

Pat

Pat - this was a lazy and quite fast processing via PI as, I was eager to see the result rather than focusing to make it look nice!

Star alignement > Cropping > GraXpert > BlurXT > NoiseXT > StarXT > GHS for each Ha/SII/OIII and for the stars > created a Lum from the Ha > sharpen the Lum > Foraxx 3 channel  integration > played a bit with curves to darken a bit the background > added the Lum frame via LRGB combination > added stars.

I am lucky to have the opportunity to have my imaging rig set at a remote observatory in Spain @PixelSkiesAstro and with the help of David and Michelle, to be able to learn on how to manage my rig from distance using NINA, PHD2, Voyager (there are still loads to learn here) and etc. I took my rig to Spain about 2 weeks ago and since then, trying to learn how to set things up but, the cool thing is that I am able to image almost every night (bar one night, due to clouds). Probably this is the best "upgrade" I have done so far!

The rig is based on:

• ZWO AM5
• WO Redcat61
• ZWO ASI2600MM
• Antlia LRGB Pro + SHO 2.8mn filters
• Pegasus Powerbox
• OAG - L + ASI290MM
• ZWO EAF
• Mini PC, APC UPS, ASI178MM + all-sky camera

Although the moon was high and over 70% full every night, I used this time to learn how to use software and test that everything was working as expected. I am coming from AsiAir and the transition to NINA and etc, was fast but, not without its challenges.

Here is the first image, moon was around 80% and I managed to get:

Ha: 23 x 300sec

SII: 25 x 300sec

OIII: 25 x 300sec

+ flats, darks and bias

Integrated and processed with PI, used the Xterminator suite + Foraxx. What I am really happy with, is the level of detail with just 6 hrs of data.

The idea could work for me - i like the concept. 

But, the imaging sensor is where I found myself saying - nah! This is a pass for me. 

A RASA 6" though, would be perfect as a widefield astrograph. Perfect i would dare to say.

Rosette nebula is one of my favourite targets and I keep returning and adding more hours in it - this time I found about 2 hours more SII/OII from earlier this year that, I never added to the image before. 

Here is my (new) version of the Rosette Nebula, integrated with PI  + RC Astro suite + Foraxx Script. Tried to focus more on the detail rather than colours.

It is really amazing what the ASI1600MM can achieve - I was still using the 7nm ZWO filters - with the Redcat51.

I’m afraid that the weather this year and especially 2nd half of the year, has made it almost impossible for me to image. 
 

I managed to gather some good light while I was in Greece for summer holidays but, after that, I had probably 10 hrs max till today. 
 

The investment in mono, new filters and new scope, cannot be justified with the almost 15-20 sessions I had this year. I was even planning to build my own backyard Obsy but, I couldn’t justify it at all. 
 

This is why I have made the decision to set my rig to a remote hosting observatory in Spain and try to get the most out of my rig. 
 

Im keeping a 2nd wide field, OSC setup here for the odd nights that weather will do us a favour. 

28 minutes ago, mackiedlm said:

It has indded been a bad year for AP. But some great images produced above.

While complaining about lack of clear nights on another forum, I was contacted by a guy in Colorado offering to colab with me to help me finish a project. This was the result.

 

beautiful!

For many reasons i would pick this from 2023.